The evolving definition of physical fitness
Abstract
Traditional defintions of physical fitness have employed language that, when operationalized, encompasses a broad range of functional capacities. However, these definitions have not referred directly to the health outcomes of physical activity. The current body of knowledge in exercise science and society's view of physical fitness indicate that a definition of physical fitness should focus on the health related aspects of fitness. It is proposed that the physical education profession's primary concern should be for promotion of health related physical fitness, defined as a state characterized by (a) an ability to perform daily activities with vigor, and (b) demonstration of traits and capacities that are associated with low risk of premature development of the hypokinetic diseases (i.e., those associated with physical inactivity). In addition, physical fitness and motor performance are terms that may have utility for professional physical educators, if consensus can be built around precise literal and operational definitions.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Slovenia was the only country with a high Overall Physical Activity grade (A-); more than 80% of its 6- to 19-year-olds (self-report), 88% of 11-year-olds, and 66% of 14-year-olds (objective data) met guidelines.
“Slovenia, where more than 80% of children and youth aged between 6 and 19 years (according to subjective self-reported data), 88% of the 11-year-olds, and 66% of the 14-year-olds (according to objective data) were meeting the physical activity guidelines, was the only country reporting a high grade for this indicator (”
From Global Matrix 3.0 Physical Activity Report Card Grades for Children and Youth: Results and Analysis From 49 Countries (2018) · cites this paper as [57]
Cites
(1985) · Europe PMC (PubMed Central) · Cited by 9,143 · see citing works
The structure and measurement of physical fitness
Fleishman, E. A. (1964) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 359 · see citing works
Physiology of Muscular Activity
(1953) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.1953.02940290068044 · Cited by 260 · see citing works
Application of Measurement to Health and Physical Education
Clarke, H. H. (1967) · Andalas University Repository (Andalas University) · Cited by 170 · see citing works
A New Definition of Youth Fitness
Pate, R. R. (1983) · The Physician and Sportsmedicine · doi:10.1080/00913847.1983.11708509 · Cited by 143 · see citing works
Self-citationTHE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
(1912) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.1912.04260030102016 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Aubert, S., Barnes, J. D., Abdeta, C., Abi Nader, P., Adeniyi, A. F., Aguilar-Farias, N., Andrade Tenesaca, D. S., Bhawra, J., Brazo-Sayavera, J., Cardon, G., et al. (2018) · Journal of Physical Activity and Health · doi:10.1123/jpah.2018-0472 · Cited by 799 · see citing works
Vancampfort, D., Probst, M., Scheewe, T., De Herdt, A., Sweers, K., Knapen, J., van Winkel, R., & De Hert, M. (2013) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2012.09.026 · Cited by 173 · see citing works
Rubín, L., Mitáš, J., Vorlíček, M., Dygrýn, J., Suchomel, A., Lang, J. J., & Tomkinson, G. R. (2023) · Central European Journal of Public Health · doi:10.21101/cejph.a7645 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
- Authors
- Pate, R. R.
- Affiliations
- University of South Carolina (US)
- Corresponding author
- Pate, Russell R.
- ORCID
- Pate, Russell R.
- Venue
- Quest
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 1988-12
- Volume
- 40
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 174-179
- ISSN
- 0033-6297 (ISSN-L)
- 1543-2750
- OpenAlex
- W2030946785
- Cited by
- 194
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 13.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Quest (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation › Physical Education and Training Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation › Physical Education and Pedagogy
- Keywords
- physical fitness, health-related physical fitness, physical education, physical activity, health outcomes, hypokinetic diseases, physical inactivity, motor performance, operational definitions
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
